Add/Drop a Course
At the beginning of each semester, you can add or drop classes if you have registered and paid in a previous period. Check your Registration Information Sheet online to find out when you can access the registration system for add/drops. Refer to the General Information Catalog for complete add/drop policies and procedures.
Add Courses
You may add courses using the registration system through the fourth class day (second class day in summer). After that time, you must obtain departmental approval to add a course.
Check to see if your class has a prerequisite requirement. Prerequisites are academic requirements that you must meet before or during enrollment for your desired courses.
Adding/Dropping Courses and Its Impact on Financial Aid
Drop Courses
Consult with your academic advisor about how dropping courses might impact your academic progress, financial aid or access to campus resources. If you drop below full-time status (which is 12 hours for undergraduates and 9 hours for graduates in fall and spring), you will be considered a part-time student. If you wish to drop all of your courses after the semester begins, you must withdraw entirely from the university.
Q-Drops
If you decide to drop a class after the 12th class day (fall or spring semester) or 4th class day (summer semester), you will need to start a Q-drop request before the Q-drop deadline, which typically occurs near the middle of the semester. See the academic calendar for exact dates.
Undergraduate students please refer to the Academic Q-drop page for information on how to request an academic Q-drop.
Note: If the regular deadline has passed to request an academic Q-drop, every undergraduate is allowed a One-Time Exception (OTE) Drop (for academic reasons) or as an approved non-academic drop. Please see the OTE Drops section on this page for more information.
Graduate students may drop a course after the Q-drop deadline, however, your instructor determines whether the symbol Q or a grade of F will be recorded. See your coordinator for details.
OTE (One-Time Exception) Drops
A One-Time Exception is a Q-drop or withdrawal after the regular deadline. Every undergraduate is allowed one OTE, whether it is used to withdraw from all classes or drop one class. An OTE drop counts as one of your six Q-drops. Once you’ve used it, you cannot use it again. See your advisor for more information.
Waitlists
A waitlist is a list that students can join and wait for open seats in a class. If it is turned on by the department, and all the seats in a class have been filled, students can join the waitlist. If a student in the class drops it, a seat opens up and is filled by a student on the list.
Waitlists are active from the first day of registration through the 4th class day (fall and spring) or 2nd class day (summer) in a semester. The department offering the class must turn on a list before it becomes available for students to join.
Joining a Waitlist
When registering for a closed class, you will get the chance to join a waitlist if its department has turned a list on and you are registered for at least one class. The class will appear closed or waitlisted in the Course Schedule. Attempt to add the closed or waitlisted class; you will be notified that the class is closed and if there is a waitlist available, you will be given the option to add yourself to the list. You can join up to two lists per course, and can be on four lists at any one time.
Seeing My Waitlists
The See My Waitlists page shows the lists you are on, the date you joined the list, your place, the latest notice sent to you, and your swap class if you have selected one. From this page, you can also remove yourself from a waitlist or update your swap class.
Updating My Swap Class
A swap class is a class on your schedule that you choose to drop if you get into a waitlisted class. For example, you might want BIO 340L but it is full so you add BIO 455L instead, and list it as the swap class. If a seat opens in 340L and you are added, the system drops you from 455L. If you drop 455L but don’t update your waitlist, you will not be added to 340L even if a seat opens up.
You can update your swap class from your See My Waitlists page as follows:
- To choose or change your swap class, choose a class from your schedule in the pull-down menu, then click the Change button.
- To turn a swap class off, choose None in the pull-down menu, then click Change.